It was a paradise on earth, now it is being destroyed by tourists. Maya Bay will be closed for part of the year

A dream paradise on earth. Lagoon separated from the sea, white sand, coral reefs, untouched nature. Who wouldn't want to live in such a place or visit it at least once in their life?

After 2000, Maya Bay Beach on the Thai island of Ko Phi Phi Leh became the embodiment of one such paradise. An idyllic bay starring Beach star Hollywood star Leonard DiCaprio.

The film was based on a book of the same name by British author Alex Garland, who set the fictional plot of his book (published in 1996) on smaller islands near Ko Samui on the east coast of Thailand.

The film was eventually shot on Ko Phi Phi Leh Island in the Andaman Sea, not far from popular Phuket.

In the book, Alex Garland tells the story of travelers in Southeast Asia who are looking for a utopian paradise on earth, separated from tourism and the problems of the modern world. A place where there is no money, where fishing and a closed community of like-minded people are enough for you to make a living.

The book's message is uncompromising - there is no such thing. Or it can't exist long enough. Because crowds of people looking for such a place don't end there. Nothing like this can be kept secret in today's world, overgrown travelers will be replaced by backpackers and the first tourists will appear after them.

Good promotion?

This is best illustrated by the story of Maya Bay Beach, which the filmmakers chose as the most suitable location. "It's a great advertisement for our marine reserve, for the whole of Thailand," said Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi in 1999. "We probably wouldn't buy better promotion."

Film producer Andrew Macdonald has even said that Thailand will become truly famous as a country where paradise on earth can be a reality. But the author of the book resisted such enthusiasm. "God, I hope not. I can't imagine Leonard DiCaprio's fans jumping on planes and starting flying to Thailand. "

Became. Not all tourists who go to Thailand every year are fans of this film. But the number of tourists in Thailand is growing every year (an estimated 37.5 million tourists should go to Thailand this year) and a high number of visitors are heading to the movie beach, which also appears in the rankings of the world's best beaches.

In a single day in the middle of the season, up to five thousand of them will sail here on ships departing from nearby Phuket or Krabi Province. The onslaught on the surrounding nature is so great that the Thai authorities have run out of patience. From June to September, Maya Bay will be closed to the public.

Tourism has begun to damage local coral reefs, and the authorities hope that those few months of the year will help nature and reefs to recover from the heavy traffic. According to ecologists, however, closing the beach for several months a year will not be enough. "The ideal solution would be to close the beach all year round, but due to our dependence on the tourism industry, this is not possible," says Thon Thamrongnawasawat of Bangkok-based Kasetsart University.

This will not be the first time that the local authorities have decided to close some places, in 2016 the islands of Koh Khai Nok, Koh Khai Nui and Koh Khai Nai were closed. At that time, all the equipment for tourists, from bungalows to parasols, also disappeared from the islands.

Another restriction for tourists is the ban on smoking in 24 beach resorts on the shores of the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, which took place at the end of last year. Violation of the law carries a penalty of up to one year in prison and a large fine. Read: A fine of 60 thousand for a cigarette by the sea. Thailand bans smoking on the beaches.